The first woman to scream for Hammer was probably Shirley Grey in William Hinds’ second film, The Mystery of The Marie Celeste (1936). Among notable actresses whose function was to look decorative while in jeopardy were . . .
Veronica Carlson
Dracula’s most beautiful victim in Dracula Has Risen From The Grave(1968) also screamed twice for Frankenstein before Hammer found other beauties.
Hazel Court
Best remembered for her subsequent roles in the Roger Corman movies of Edgar Allen Poe stories, she first played horror with fellow newcomers Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein(1957).
Barbara Shelley
A former model, she appeared in several low-budget Italian productions before Hammer put her into The Camp on Blood Island(1958), the first of nine roles for the studio – perhaps her best being as Helen in Dracula, Prince of Darkness(1966).
Ingrid Pitt
She landed the triple-role lead in The Vampire Lovers(1970) after meeting James Carreras at a party. Other roles followed (The House That Dripped Ingrid Pitt became a joke movie title of the 1970s). She went on to write scripts.
Notable others
Among others terrified for Hammer were Melissa Stribling, Yvonne Furneaux, Dawn Addams, Madeline Smith, Susan Strasberg, Heather Sears, Judy Matheson, Janette Scott, Moira Redmond, Kate O’Mara, Julie Ege, Judy Geeson and Joanna Lumley.
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A former model, she appeared in several low-budget Italian productions before Hammer put her into The Camp on Blood Island (1958), the first of nine roles for the studio – perhaps her best being as Helen in Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966).
Ingrid Pitt
